Let me bring you songs from the wood:
To make you feel much better than you could know...
Hold you steady as you go.
Join the chorus if you can:
It'll make of you an honest man.
Let me bring you love from the field:
Poppies red and roses filled with summer rain.
To heal the wound and still the pain...
Greetings well met fellow, hail!
I am the wind to fill your sail.
I am the cross to take your nail:
A singer of these ageless times.
With kitchen prose and gutter rhymes.
Songs from the wood make you feel much better.
Songs from the Wood- Jethro Tull
I love England in the fall. Everyone talks about England in the spring, but I love her in the fall. It smells crisp and clean and the woods around Barrister’s family estate seemed to whisper to me in the cool breeze: Come and See. So I took off in the early morning, with a light fog on the ground and with my game bag slung across my chest, I set about six wire traps and hunted for morels which grew in the forest and was treasured by chefs all over Europe but was the secret of our home.
I set a trap and sprinkled the dull wire with leaves. I was working my way back to where I started and now I would check my traps. We were covered in rabbits. They were a nuisance but I knew Minnie and Aolani had Thumper Guilt and would never eat of the succulent garden rabbits. The rest would fall on their roasted carcasses like a hungry Vampire. I was now approaching the first trap I had set and there was a big buck rabbit, about six pounds, and I field stripped it and packed away the entrails to dispose of later and laid the naked bunny in my game bag. I followed the path around the meadow where we were taking advantage of the mild temperatures and the basically dry weather before the real weather with its chilling rain and the kisses of frost were too cold to tolerate even in our over done lean toos with real roofs and wooden floors with old faded rugs from the main house and old camp beds made comfortable with those temprapedic mattresses and electricity and wifi…Roughing it we weren’t. We even had a shower house and toilets with hot water and a fridge in the enclosed outdoor kitchen. I could not hear the camp but I knew our Vampires were sleeping in the light tight bungalow we had prepared for them and Eric was well but a bit moody. But he was alive and we would rather have him alive and a little pensive than definitely dead and us mourning a deep loss.
I picked up and cleaned the rabbits as I went, so far a rabbit for every trap. We were getting ready for Mabon, the Wiccan celebration of the second harvest, what some people called Harvest Home. Renee was to be made a witch in the second degree. Jessica, our little witch Vampire, had her plate full during the last season and she was a little behind, but we thought maybe Beltaine or even Yule she would be caught up and we could initiate her into the second degree. She was a quick learner and though we had to tailor her lessons to fit her Vampire energies, she was a dedicated and successful little witch. I hitched up my bag a little and headed to the next trap.
I was wearing a hoodie and a Henley and jeans and my favorite lace up boots. I carried a silver dagger in my boot, a habit of many a Vampire mission, and I carried another knife, a bowie hunting knife. This I used to dispatch the still rambunctious rabbits. The trail was coming back around to the last trap. It was still early morning and I could salt and season my rabbits and put them in the fridge to rest before they were spitted. I prepped the last rabbit, six for six and headed back into the meadow. I walked past the hooch where our Vampires were asleep and into the main camp. There were several camp chairs around and couple of lounges. There was a huge circle of deep sand Barrister had trucked in and a giant fire pit. The sandy circle and the fire pit were surrounded by a raised platform eight feet deep and thirty feet in circumference. We could lounge there on blankets and yoga pads and there were heavy waterproof cushions we could lean back on. Aolani and Len and Barrister were placing leaves around the little table we designated our altar and there were baskets of fruit and the last of the berries and wild flowers and huge orange and gold and purple candles. In the center of the table were the white candles flanking the purple candle we would use for our initiation ceremony. Minnie was standing away to judge the symmetry of the altar decorations. Most of us were Christians but Aolani and Eric and, I suppose, Jessica were pagans.
Minnie passed me the plate of cookies during our tea. The Americans in our group were embracing the ritual of tea. I poured a tea cup for Renee and passed it to her. We would dedicate her initiation ritual in thanks for Eric’s healing and the return of our Bill. He was still haunted and I encouraged him to write about his experience and now the Vampire was pouring all his confusion and angst and final redemption in a book. He often shared chapters with us and we offered advice and cleared up any facts he may have overlooked. He was working it out his own way. But I missed him in our discussion circle. We would sit in the dark meadow, the only light from the fire and talk and tell stories but Bill would sit at the little wooden table in the kitchen area, writing under the bare bulb on his laptop and absorbed completely in his book. We let him be. He was working it out as well as writing about the things that happened in the AVL, his conversion and bringing on the disappearance of Tru:Blood and even contributing of the disaster that was Vamp Camp and the LAVTF. He was confessional and self punishing much of the time.
In England where the Vampire community was surprisingly small, there were no outbreaks of HEP V, so we were relatively safe from sick Vampires but there were hungry Vampires roaming around and they often had to be sent on their way when they heard our voices and smelled our human blood. There had been wolves around, but Len said not to worry, they would avoid us if they could.
The rabbits were roasting on green wood splints by the time our Vampires rose. The first were Jessica and James. It was nice to see her so obviously happy with this young man who was made Vampire some 45 years ago in Haight Ashbury during the late 60’s. He had a guitar with him and he often sang for us in a clean clear tenor voice. He was made Vampire by a pretty little hippy chick who meant only feed him a little peyote and have a little buzz with her supper but he tasted so delicious she could not stop till it was almost too late and she turned him. He traveled with his maker for twenty or so years and they parted ways when she decided to head to a commune in Northwest Canada. He still got cheerful letters from her and she never offered to interfere in his life. James was a pretty well adjusted Vampire and had a good experience with his Vampire life and his maker had been kind and gracious. I think Tara and Willa were a tiny bit jealous of that. But he was getting used to us and the way we accepted him in our little group and he settled in nicely. He liked the Irish songs I sang when we were relaxing and he was learning Stretched On Your Grave and Parting Glass and other Hibernian folk songs. He was even learning some U2 songs. He did Stay and Red Hill Mining Town and Desire. I would sing with him though my voice was a terrible excuse for singing when he sang so well.
The next two Vampires to come out were Tara and Willa. Tara was the Vampire daughter of Pam and Willa was the daughter of Eric, his youngest daughter. She was still pretty pissed at Eric that he left her to begin with. And Tara was still a little pissed at Pam for abandoning her but they were happy Eric was well, and that would ease their anger. Eric and Willa spent time together alone for a little while every evening. Tara was a harder nut to crack.
The next Vampire to come out was Bill. He had his computer under his arm and went into the kitchen where we were cooking to get a precious bottle of Tru:Blood. The Vampires could have hunted, or called the professional feeders but they declined the offer. Dr. Ludwig sent a number and referral for the local Hobbit, Dr. Sweeney. I don’t think she was a real Hobbit, but since I didn’t really know what she was, Hobbit was what I called her and her various counterparts all over the world. Dr. Sweeney had ordered Eric to have one human blood meal once a week and the agency sent a feeder to the house.
The next Vampire who came out was Pam. She looked great in jeans and a Fangtasia tee shirt and tennis shoes and a zip front hoodie. Finally her maker came out. Eric was neatly dressed in an oatmeal colored Ayran sweater and jeans and tennis shoes. Minnie brought him a Tru:Blood and he kissed her warmly. He did not speak to Bill. His grief was still profound and whether he was right or wrong to do so he still blamed Bill for not saving Nora. We said nothing about the rift. We were in no position to defend Bill about anything he did or did not do. We just hoped things would work out.
Pam came and sat at the kitchen table, pointedly ignoring Bill. She did not like Bill particularly but she did not precisely hate him. He had, after all, saved them from the burning light of the sun. She said it had been wonderful to move around in the day but she said one could not dwell on what was but to look forward to the future. Pam was an optimist and a realist and she was a sunny disposition if you can forgive me the obvious contradiction in terms.
“What’s for supper?” she asked.
“For you, Tru:Blood in a bottle, for us, roast rabbit and stuffing and rice and a salad and wine and some cookies after the Ritual,” I said.
“Ritual, what kind of Ritual?” asked James. He had not been with us for long but because of what he did for both Jessica and Bill we were happy to include him in our eccentric little family. He was just learning about us and we let him discover things as he went along as far the world of the House where we had been living for the past year on and off.
“Renee, Aslinn and Jessica and I are witches,” explained Aolani. “It is the celebration of Mabon, Harvest Home, and we are initiating her to the second degree.”
“You are a witch?” asked James, looking at Jessica.
“Yeah, do you mind?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Not at all, I just didn’t know.”
That was another thing about James, he just didn’t care much what we were or what we believed so long as he could stick around with Jessica. She was dressed like a little throw back. I let her raid my closet and she was wearing a pretty white peasant top with Dutch Tyrolean delph blue designs and a denim full tail skirt and lace up moccasin boots and my aluminum silver tone bracelets and hoop earrings with tiny bells. James thought she was awful cute dressed as a hippy girl. All that was missing was the smell of patchouli and cannabis.
Len turned suddenly and his eyes glowed. Eric and Bill and Pam became alert with Tara and Jess and James and Willa filling in the ranks. Four figures were standing on the periphery of our camp. “Heart beats,” said Pam. “Not Vampires.”
“Weres,” said Len. “Come forward.” The figures came into the light of the fire and the torches that were lit around our camp.
“I know them, but I did not know they are were,” said Barrister. “They are from the estate next door, the Staffords.”
“Ah, Michael, there you are,” said the older man. “Charles Stafford.” He came up to us and looked at the group. “Brother.” He acknowledged Len as one of his own.
“Len,” said Barrister. “This is Charles Stafford, his wife Elaine, his children Carradine and Robert.” Charles was a tall rangy man with the ruddy skin of a man who liked the outdoors and horses. Elaine was an elegant sort, I thought maybe we had met at one of the numerous occasions we had worked on parties and fund raisers. I had met so many of Barrister’s mum’s friends I could not keep them straight. “This is my wife Aslinn, and our friends, Len, who you have met, and his wife Aolani, and Renee, and Minnie,” he pointed to each of us.
“And the Vampires, they have names?” he asked. You could tell he was anxious to meet these people.
“These are our friends, Eric, his daughters Pam and Willa, and his granddaughter Tara. This is Bill and his daughter Jessica and James her boyfriend.” The were was sniffing the air.
“I beg your pardon, but we have scented a Vampire in the woods and we did not recognize the scent. It did not smell of any of the local Vampires,” said the were, though he stared at Eric a long time. “Though he does smell something like you.” He nodded toward Eric.
“I have been recovering from a severe injury and I am not quite myself,” said Eric.
“Still isn’t your scent,” the boy said. Robert was 18 and thin like his dad and elegant of features like his mom. “Carradine and I were concerned, with the troubles with the Vampires.”
“None of us are ill, like I have explained, I had been injured, burned actually in the sun and I have been healing,” explained Eric.
“He meant nothing by it,” said the wolf. “Just be careful, especially you humans, you don’t want to be Vampire food.”
“We know,” I said. “Would you all like something to drink, beer, wine, tea?”
“That would be lovely,” he said. “Carradine, would you help your mother and Aslinn in preparing us some drinks.” Carradine shot her father a look that suggested she would rather eat a dead walrus’s anus than help with drinks while her brother got to play big bad werewolf, but she followed her mother as we walked toward the kitchen.
The rest of the group took places around the fire, new weres sitting close to the edge of the fire. “From where do you hail Len?” asked the were.
“I live in Washington State. I belong to the Moon Runner Pack,” he said. “But I am an associate to the Long Tooth pack in Shreveport, Louisiana.”
“I ‘m the Packmaster to the Harrow Collective,” he said. “We call ourselves collectives here.”
“Good to know you,” said Len.
“Are all of you yanks?” asked Charles.
“Yes, most of our friends are from the US. All of our Vampires are from Northern Louisiana, some in a round about way, and of course Aslinn is a British Citizen now,” said Barrister.
“Is that witchcraft in the air I scent?” asked Robert.
“There could be,” said Len.
“I told you dad, they won’t want to admit to much,” said Robert.
“Robert, let’s give them the doubt,” said Charles. “We had some trouble with the witchcraft community around here over the right to hunt around what they considered their worship place. They failed to understand we owned the land they celebrated their Sabats on.”
“We have only been here a week,” said Bill, still not admitting anything.
“Just checking, can’t be too careful,” said Charles. He eyed Eric again. “What is it about you I can’t sort out.”
“I am a very old Vampire,” he said.
“There is more than that,” said the were. Eric shrugged.
“How long have you been scenting this strange Vampire?” asked Bill.
“For about the last week,” he said. “We suspect it has been hunting the deer.”
“Vampires don’t drink animal blood, we can’t,” said Jessica.
“We didn’t say it had been fed upon, just killed and the head taken and set up in some sort of strange way,” said Charles.
“In what way?” asked Eric.
“Like it was some sort of offering. We thought maybe it was witches,” offered Charles.
“Witches would not kill an animal,” said Aolani. “The deer are physical representations of the Horned God.”
“I just thought it was strange,” said the were. “Especially with the scent of Vampire on it.”
“Vampires do like to chase animals, but we would not kill it,” said Eric. “But none of us have been in the woods.” We ladies had returned with cold sodas and beers and another round of Tru:Blood for the Vampires and we sat down to listen to the talk. I could tell Charles was a little pensive.
“Could you come out in the woods with us and see what we are talking about?” asked Charles.
“We could do that,” said Len. Eric and Bill stood up.
“Pam, you and Jessica and Tara and Willa stay here and watch the camp, we should be back soon,” said Eric.
In the dark of the woods, the weres and Vampires moved carefully but not exactly quietly among the trees and talked. “How long are you staying?” asked Charles.
“I suppose until Michael decides he is thoroughly sick of us lounging around on his estate,” said Eric.
“Very likely at least through Christmas,” said Bill. “We have had a long year, we are looking for downtime.”
“This is a good place for that,” said Charles. “Here is the carcass, then the head is up there on the boulder.” They stood there and studied the rock and the head and the area. Eric flared his nostrils and scented the Vampire’s smell.
“Strange,” he said. Eric moved around the stone and looked at the stone and positioning of the deer’s head. He stood there and then looked all around him. “I will be right back, don’t move.” He blurred away into the tree line and came back about ten minutes later.
“What do you think Eric?” asked Bill.
“I am not for sure,” he said. “Let’s go back, I don’t like being away from our friends. You can rest assured you will not have any trouble out of our group, we are living on Tru:Blood presently and our witches do not have a problem with you and yours.”
“We’ll walk back with you then,” he said.
After the neighbors left, we had our initiation and celebrated and we made plans to clean up the camp and move back to the house, we were ready for the start of the holidays and celebrating with our family.
To make you feel much better than you could know...
Hold you steady as you go.
Join the chorus if you can:
It'll make of you an honest man.
Let me bring you love from the field:
Poppies red and roses filled with summer rain.
To heal the wound and still the pain...
Greetings well met fellow, hail!
I am the wind to fill your sail.
I am the cross to take your nail:
A singer of these ageless times.
With kitchen prose and gutter rhymes.
Songs from the wood make you feel much better.
Songs from the Wood- Jethro Tull
I love England in the fall. Everyone talks about England in the spring, but I love her in the fall. It smells crisp and clean and the woods around Barrister’s family estate seemed to whisper to me in the cool breeze: Come and See. So I took off in the early morning, with a light fog on the ground and with my game bag slung across my chest, I set about six wire traps and hunted for morels which grew in the forest and was treasured by chefs all over Europe but was the secret of our home.
I set a trap and sprinkled the dull wire with leaves. I was working my way back to where I started and now I would check my traps. We were covered in rabbits. They were a nuisance but I knew Minnie and Aolani had Thumper Guilt and would never eat of the succulent garden rabbits. The rest would fall on their roasted carcasses like a hungry Vampire. I was now approaching the first trap I had set and there was a big buck rabbit, about six pounds, and I field stripped it and packed away the entrails to dispose of later and laid the naked bunny in my game bag. I followed the path around the meadow where we were taking advantage of the mild temperatures and the basically dry weather before the real weather with its chilling rain and the kisses of frost were too cold to tolerate even in our over done lean toos with real roofs and wooden floors with old faded rugs from the main house and old camp beds made comfortable with those temprapedic mattresses and electricity and wifi…Roughing it we weren’t. We even had a shower house and toilets with hot water and a fridge in the enclosed outdoor kitchen. I could not hear the camp but I knew our Vampires were sleeping in the light tight bungalow we had prepared for them and Eric was well but a bit moody. But he was alive and we would rather have him alive and a little pensive than definitely dead and us mourning a deep loss.
I picked up and cleaned the rabbits as I went, so far a rabbit for every trap. We were getting ready for Mabon, the Wiccan celebration of the second harvest, what some people called Harvest Home. Renee was to be made a witch in the second degree. Jessica, our little witch Vampire, had her plate full during the last season and she was a little behind, but we thought maybe Beltaine or even Yule she would be caught up and we could initiate her into the second degree. She was a quick learner and though we had to tailor her lessons to fit her Vampire energies, she was a dedicated and successful little witch. I hitched up my bag a little and headed to the next trap.
I was wearing a hoodie and a Henley and jeans and my favorite lace up boots. I carried a silver dagger in my boot, a habit of many a Vampire mission, and I carried another knife, a bowie hunting knife. This I used to dispatch the still rambunctious rabbits. The trail was coming back around to the last trap. It was still early morning and I could salt and season my rabbits and put them in the fridge to rest before they were spitted. I prepped the last rabbit, six for six and headed back into the meadow. I walked past the hooch where our Vampires were asleep and into the main camp. There were several camp chairs around and couple of lounges. There was a huge circle of deep sand Barrister had trucked in and a giant fire pit. The sandy circle and the fire pit were surrounded by a raised platform eight feet deep and thirty feet in circumference. We could lounge there on blankets and yoga pads and there were heavy waterproof cushions we could lean back on. Aolani and Len and Barrister were placing leaves around the little table we designated our altar and there were baskets of fruit and the last of the berries and wild flowers and huge orange and gold and purple candles. In the center of the table were the white candles flanking the purple candle we would use for our initiation ceremony. Minnie was standing away to judge the symmetry of the altar decorations. Most of us were Christians but Aolani and Eric and, I suppose, Jessica were pagans.
Minnie passed me the plate of cookies during our tea. The Americans in our group were embracing the ritual of tea. I poured a tea cup for Renee and passed it to her. We would dedicate her initiation ritual in thanks for Eric’s healing and the return of our Bill. He was still haunted and I encouraged him to write about his experience and now the Vampire was pouring all his confusion and angst and final redemption in a book. He often shared chapters with us and we offered advice and cleared up any facts he may have overlooked. He was working it out his own way. But I missed him in our discussion circle. We would sit in the dark meadow, the only light from the fire and talk and tell stories but Bill would sit at the little wooden table in the kitchen area, writing under the bare bulb on his laptop and absorbed completely in his book. We let him be. He was working it out as well as writing about the things that happened in the AVL, his conversion and bringing on the disappearance of Tru:Blood and even contributing of the disaster that was Vamp Camp and the LAVTF. He was confessional and self punishing much of the time.
In England where the Vampire community was surprisingly small, there were no outbreaks of HEP V, so we were relatively safe from sick Vampires but there were hungry Vampires roaming around and they often had to be sent on their way when they heard our voices and smelled our human blood. There had been wolves around, but Len said not to worry, they would avoid us if they could.
The rabbits were roasting on green wood splints by the time our Vampires rose. The first were Jessica and James. It was nice to see her so obviously happy with this young man who was made Vampire some 45 years ago in Haight Ashbury during the late 60’s. He had a guitar with him and he often sang for us in a clean clear tenor voice. He was made Vampire by a pretty little hippy chick who meant only feed him a little peyote and have a little buzz with her supper but he tasted so delicious she could not stop till it was almost too late and she turned him. He traveled with his maker for twenty or so years and they parted ways when she decided to head to a commune in Northwest Canada. He still got cheerful letters from her and she never offered to interfere in his life. James was a pretty well adjusted Vampire and had a good experience with his Vampire life and his maker had been kind and gracious. I think Tara and Willa were a tiny bit jealous of that. But he was getting used to us and the way we accepted him in our little group and he settled in nicely. He liked the Irish songs I sang when we were relaxing and he was learning Stretched On Your Grave and Parting Glass and other Hibernian folk songs. He was even learning some U2 songs. He did Stay and Red Hill Mining Town and Desire. I would sing with him though my voice was a terrible excuse for singing when he sang so well.
The next two Vampires to come out were Tara and Willa. Tara was the Vampire daughter of Pam and Willa was the daughter of Eric, his youngest daughter. She was still pretty pissed at Eric that he left her to begin with. And Tara was still a little pissed at Pam for abandoning her but they were happy Eric was well, and that would ease their anger. Eric and Willa spent time together alone for a little while every evening. Tara was a harder nut to crack.
The next Vampire to come out was Bill. He had his computer under his arm and went into the kitchen where we were cooking to get a precious bottle of Tru:Blood. The Vampires could have hunted, or called the professional feeders but they declined the offer. Dr. Ludwig sent a number and referral for the local Hobbit, Dr. Sweeney. I don’t think she was a real Hobbit, but since I didn’t really know what she was, Hobbit was what I called her and her various counterparts all over the world. Dr. Sweeney had ordered Eric to have one human blood meal once a week and the agency sent a feeder to the house.
The next Vampire who came out was Pam. She looked great in jeans and a Fangtasia tee shirt and tennis shoes and a zip front hoodie. Finally her maker came out. Eric was neatly dressed in an oatmeal colored Ayran sweater and jeans and tennis shoes. Minnie brought him a Tru:Blood and he kissed her warmly. He did not speak to Bill. His grief was still profound and whether he was right or wrong to do so he still blamed Bill for not saving Nora. We said nothing about the rift. We were in no position to defend Bill about anything he did or did not do. We just hoped things would work out.
Pam came and sat at the kitchen table, pointedly ignoring Bill. She did not like Bill particularly but she did not precisely hate him. He had, after all, saved them from the burning light of the sun. She said it had been wonderful to move around in the day but she said one could not dwell on what was but to look forward to the future. Pam was an optimist and a realist and she was a sunny disposition if you can forgive me the obvious contradiction in terms.
“What’s for supper?” she asked.
“For you, Tru:Blood in a bottle, for us, roast rabbit and stuffing and rice and a salad and wine and some cookies after the Ritual,” I said.
“Ritual, what kind of Ritual?” asked James. He had not been with us for long but because of what he did for both Jessica and Bill we were happy to include him in our eccentric little family. He was just learning about us and we let him discover things as he went along as far the world of the House where we had been living for the past year on and off.
“Renee, Aslinn and Jessica and I are witches,” explained Aolani. “It is the celebration of Mabon, Harvest Home, and we are initiating her to the second degree.”
“You are a witch?” asked James, looking at Jessica.
“Yeah, do you mind?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Not at all, I just didn’t know.”
That was another thing about James, he just didn’t care much what we were or what we believed so long as he could stick around with Jessica. She was dressed like a little throw back. I let her raid my closet and she was wearing a pretty white peasant top with Dutch Tyrolean delph blue designs and a denim full tail skirt and lace up moccasin boots and my aluminum silver tone bracelets and hoop earrings with tiny bells. James thought she was awful cute dressed as a hippy girl. All that was missing was the smell of patchouli and cannabis.
Len turned suddenly and his eyes glowed. Eric and Bill and Pam became alert with Tara and Jess and James and Willa filling in the ranks. Four figures were standing on the periphery of our camp. “Heart beats,” said Pam. “Not Vampires.”
“Weres,” said Len. “Come forward.” The figures came into the light of the fire and the torches that were lit around our camp.
“I know them, but I did not know they are were,” said Barrister. “They are from the estate next door, the Staffords.”
“Ah, Michael, there you are,” said the older man. “Charles Stafford.” He came up to us and looked at the group. “Brother.” He acknowledged Len as one of his own.
“Len,” said Barrister. “This is Charles Stafford, his wife Elaine, his children Carradine and Robert.” Charles was a tall rangy man with the ruddy skin of a man who liked the outdoors and horses. Elaine was an elegant sort, I thought maybe we had met at one of the numerous occasions we had worked on parties and fund raisers. I had met so many of Barrister’s mum’s friends I could not keep them straight. “This is my wife Aslinn, and our friends, Len, who you have met, and his wife Aolani, and Renee, and Minnie,” he pointed to each of us.
“And the Vampires, they have names?” he asked. You could tell he was anxious to meet these people.
“These are our friends, Eric, his daughters Pam and Willa, and his granddaughter Tara. This is Bill and his daughter Jessica and James her boyfriend.” The were was sniffing the air.
“I beg your pardon, but we have scented a Vampire in the woods and we did not recognize the scent. It did not smell of any of the local Vampires,” said the were, though he stared at Eric a long time. “Though he does smell something like you.” He nodded toward Eric.
“I have been recovering from a severe injury and I am not quite myself,” said Eric.
“Still isn’t your scent,” the boy said. Robert was 18 and thin like his dad and elegant of features like his mom. “Carradine and I were concerned, with the troubles with the Vampires.”
“None of us are ill, like I have explained, I had been injured, burned actually in the sun and I have been healing,” explained Eric.
“He meant nothing by it,” said the wolf. “Just be careful, especially you humans, you don’t want to be Vampire food.”
“We know,” I said. “Would you all like something to drink, beer, wine, tea?”
“That would be lovely,” he said. “Carradine, would you help your mother and Aslinn in preparing us some drinks.” Carradine shot her father a look that suggested she would rather eat a dead walrus’s anus than help with drinks while her brother got to play big bad werewolf, but she followed her mother as we walked toward the kitchen.
The rest of the group took places around the fire, new weres sitting close to the edge of the fire. “From where do you hail Len?” asked the were.
“I live in Washington State. I belong to the Moon Runner Pack,” he said. “But I am an associate to the Long Tooth pack in Shreveport, Louisiana.”
“I ‘m the Packmaster to the Harrow Collective,” he said. “We call ourselves collectives here.”
“Good to know you,” said Len.
“Are all of you yanks?” asked Charles.
“Yes, most of our friends are from the US. All of our Vampires are from Northern Louisiana, some in a round about way, and of course Aslinn is a British Citizen now,” said Barrister.
“Is that witchcraft in the air I scent?” asked Robert.
“There could be,” said Len.
“I told you dad, they won’t want to admit to much,” said Robert.
“Robert, let’s give them the doubt,” said Charles. “We had some trouble with the witchcraft community around here over the right to hunt around what they considered their worship place. They failed to understand we owned the land they celebrated their Sabats on.”
“We have only been here a week,” said Bill, still not admitting anything.
“Just checking, can’t be too careful,” said Charles. He eyed Eric again. “What is it about you I can’t sort out.”
“I am a very old Vampire,” he said.
“There is more than that,” said the were. Eric shrugged.
“How long have you been scenting this strange Vampire?” asked Bill.
“For about the last week,” he said. “We suspect it has been hunting the deer.”
“Vampires don’t drink animal blood, we can’t,” said Jessica.
“We didn’t say it had been fed upon, just killed and the head taken and set up in some sort of strange way,” said Charles.
“In what way?” asked Eric.
“Like it was some sort of offering. We thought maybe it was witches,” offered Charles.
“Witches would not kill an animal,” said Aolani. “The deer are physical representations of the Horned God.”
“I just thought it was strange,” said the were. “Especially with the scent of Vampire on it.”
“Vampires do like to chase animals, but we would not kill it,” said Eric. “But none of us have been in the woods.” We ladies had returned with cold sodas and beers and another round of Tru:Blood for the Vampires and we sat down to listen to the talk. I could tell Charles was a little pensive.
“Could you come out in the woods with us and see what we are talking about?” asked Charles.
“We could do that,” said Len. Eric and Bill stood up.
“Pam, you and Jessica and Tara and Willa stay here and watch the camp, we should be back soon,” said Eric.
In the dark of the woods, the weres and Vampires moved carefully but not exactly quietly among the trees and talked. “How long are you staying?” asked Charles.
“I suppose until Michael decides he is thoroughly sick of us lounging around on his estate,” said Eric.
“Very likely at least through Christmas,” said Bill. “We have had a long year, we are looking for downtime.”
“This is a good place for that,” said Charles. “Here is the carcass, then the head is up there on the boulder.” They stood there and studied the rock and the head and the area. Eric flared his nostrils and scented the Vampire’s smell.
“Strange,” he said. Eric moved around the stone and looked at the stone and positioning of the deer’s head. He stood there and then looked all around him. “I will be right back, don’t move.” He blurred away into the tree line and came back about ten minutes later.
“What do you think Eric?” asked Bill.
“I am not for sure,” he said. “Let’s go back, I don’t like being away from our friends. You can rest assured you will not have any trouble out of our group, we are living on Tru:Blood presently and our witches do not have a problem with you and yours.”
“We’ll walk back with you then,” he said.
After the neighbors left, we had our initiation and celebrated and we made plans to clean up the camp and move back to the house, we were ready for the start of the holidays and celebrating with our family.
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